Registered nurse facing criminal charge in Stoughton elder abuse case

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 11:30 PM

The 75-year-old woman in the nurse's care was kept in a frigid basement room, with bed sores and malnourished and dehydrated, according to police.

STOUGHTON – The woman facing a criminal charge after a 75-year-old woman in her care was kept in a frigid basement room, with bed sores and malnourished and dehydrated, is a registered nurse currently licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and employed by the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, according to a Stoughton Police arrest report.

The victim was discovered in a small 8-by-10 room in the basement of a home on Palisades Circle, said Stoughton Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine.

A thermostat in the basement was turned off and read just 51 degrees, according to police. The victim’s bed sores were so advanced they exposed bone, according to the police report.

“It was awful,” Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine said Thursday. The victim was initially taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and was in intensive care, Devine said. She is no longer at Good Samaritan but remains hospitalized at an unknown location, Devine said.

“It’s one of the worst cases of elder abuse and neglect we’ve ever seen,” he said. The victim was discovered in the basement of the Palisades Circle home by members of the Stoughton Fire Department, who were called to the home on Feb. 16. Devine said it was not immediately known how long the victim had been in the basement.

Sandra Lucien-Calixte, 48, of Stoughton, who was described as a live-in caretaker by investigators, was charged Feb. 21 with permitting serious injury to an elder, Devine said. Lucien-Calixte was arrested, but too late to be arraigned.

A bail commissioner set a $25,000 cash bail over the weekend which was posted and Lucien-Calixte was freed according to Norfolk County District Attorney spokesman Dave Traub. She pleaded innocent Monday at Stoughton District Court and her bail was continued with the conditions that she stay away from the victim, surrender her passport and comply with requests from elder services. She is due back in court April 14.

The relationship between Lucien-Calixte and the victim was not immediately known. According to the police report, Lucien-Calixte stated she took the victim “into her home out of the goodness of her heart when no one else was willing or able to do so.”

Lucien-Calixte also told Stoughton Police that she is a registered nurse. An official at the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing on Thursday confirmed that Lucien-Calixte is a registered nurse and that her license is current until Sept. 9, 2014. Her license was issued Sept. 27, 2000.

On Thursday, a man who answered the door at the upper-middle class home on Palisades Circle in Stoughton identified himself as Lionel Lucien, Lucien-Calixte’s husband. “We look forward to telling our side of the story,” Lucien said.

He added that he was contacting an attorney and would not speak further until he had been advised by the attorney. Calls made to the attorney were not immediately returned.

Janie Silveira has lived right next door to the Lucien’s for the past 25 years. She said she didn’t know them very well but said that they had lived there for about 10 years. “The elderly woman may have been an aunt,” Silveira said. She added that the woman was often seen with the couple’s three children but added that she hadn’t been seen lately. “We have a very nice neighborhood. It just goes to show you this sort of thing can happen anywhere,” Silveira said.

Permitting serious injury to an elder is a felony. “A person convicted of permitting serious injury to an elder may face up to 10 years in prison,” Traub said Norfolk County District Attorney spokesman Dave Traub.

Stoughton Police began investigating after being contacted by the Stoughton Fire Department, which had transported the victim to hospital initially for low blood pressure.

“Our most vulnerable population is children and the elderly. They are the easiest to victimize,” Devine said. “This woman had her dignity stolen from her. It’s just not right,” he said.

Lucien-Calixte is due back in Stoughton District Court for a pre-trial hearing on April 14.